Strategy to obtain US Amex

[DC3]

… when do you all think that this year's free cert will arrive ? ( I have already paid this year's annual fee 3 weeks ago) …

About 2 months +/- after annual anniversary for the certificate, in my experience.

Patience Grasshopper

 

[desafinado74]

I think it's 2 months after the annual fee hits your account. I signed up in July and annual fee in August. My first cer came in September (2018) and after that in October (2019-2022). My guess is your one will come next month if you haven't got it already.

Thank you Finale and DC3.
I double checked and i did pay my first annual fee on 4th August 2022. One week later, my first free night cert appeared. So yes, i hope this year's cert will show up in September (I hope i can use it on Conrad Tokyo in early October)

By the way, if you all want to book the free night cert or just enquire about something, it is best to call that US Hilton number 1-800-446-6677 during the evening (ie. AEST 6pm) I called when the US based agents were still working (AEST 11am) and they were pretty useless and lazy. I got connected to the Filipino call centre at around 630pm AEST, and they were much more helpful and friendly. Maybe other peoples' experiences are different, but that's my experience with that Hilton number so far.

 

[DC3]

I double checked and i did pay my first annual fee on 4th August 2022. One week later, my first free night cert appeared …

Curiosity got the better of me.

Just checked and my Aspire card was approved in mid-January 2020. The certificates have been arriving (email) in the first few days of April since then.

If your card approval date is in (early) June then the certificate could well arrive by the end of this month

Edited

 

[DC3]

Deleted

 

[SWFR]

Thank you for this - just tried it and am still in pop up jail. If I knew how much spend I needed to "sacrifice" at lower earn rates on the Green (I'm currently spending about $US1,000/month) then I'd make a calculated decision on it as this offer is pretty good.

Try out this application link for the Gold card (apparently the pop up window doesn't appear when using this link):

American Express® Gold Card

Apply for the American Express Gold Card: Multiply your rewards.

www.americanexpress.com

 

[Daventry]

Pop up jail for me when applying for the Green Amex.

I have two Amex cards already approved within 12 months, last one was 3 months ago. Is that the reason?

BTW I’m using both cards.

 

[albyd]

Thanks @SWFR - received a "we'll get back to you with a decision within 14 days" message. I received an email to call. I verified my US mailing address as well as Australian Passport number and details of another US AMEX I hold (as I don't have a SSN). I got approval on the phone and email came through at the same time. Now to wait for the card and meet the spend. Was thinking of buying some Gift Cards to easily meet the minimum spend - is that a red flag of sorts? I'd hate to trip myself up at the finish line especially since I transferred a sizeable (to me) AU MR points balance to the US which showed yesterday.

Assuming all goes according to plan, I don't need both the Gold and Green and want to go back to the Green once I've served a year. Do I cancel the Green (although that's a card of some tenure so will hurt my FICO) or keep both and cancel the Gold after a year? Sorry for all the questions - there's alot of experience on this thread and I've appreciated being part of it.

 

[DC3]

Was thinking of buying some Gift Cards to easily meet the minimum spend - is that a red flag of sorts?

Not as far as I’m aware. Certainly my Coles/Woolies transactions for GCs don’t provide that sort of detail to Amex

 

[albyd]

Hey @DC3 thanks for the heads up. I think I'll do that then. Now to wait for the card to arrive at MyUS - will be hefty $$ cost to get it here to AU but worth it for 60K MR.

 

[levelnine]

Hey @DC3 thanks for the heads up. I think I'll do that then. Now to wait for the card to arrive at MyUS - will be hefty $$ cost to get it here to AU but worth it for 60K MR.

If you didn't already know, if you wait 10 days after approval, you should be able to call up Amex and get them to post the card (or a replacement) directly to you in Australia.

 

[georgie23]

If you didn't already know, if you wait 10 days after approval, you should be able to call up Amex and get them to post the card (or a replacement) directly to you in Australia.

yes just did that on weekend and it was very good
Will be here via DHL within the week
Had to do the notary cam to confirm ID but then all good to go

 

[blacksultan]

Hey @DC3 thanks for the heads up. I think I'll do that then. Now to wait for the card to arrive at MyUS - will be hefty $$ cost to get it here to AU but worth it for 60K MR.

If you already have a US Amex it should be easy for you to call them and let them know that you are travelling and to request it be sent to oz by dhl . Pretty easy and no issues . They will identify you using existing card.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

Decided to apply for a Chase card on Sunday. Yesterday got a phone call while a was at work from a US number that according to Google is from Chase.
Got an email last night asking to provide proof of ITIN/SSN and address.

They don’t mention credit card statements among examples of proof of address. I hope my last Amex statement is enough

Do let us know how you go. I know that it really depends on the CSR. They accepted my bank statement maybe they'll accept a cc statement.

 

[blacksultan]

Try out this application link for the Gold card (apparently the pop up window doesn't appear when using this link):

American Express® Gold Card

Apply for the American Express Gold Card: Multiply your rewards.

www.americanexpress.com

Yes . The link worked . Got approved for the gold after getting pop up previously . Pity you can’t get the $250 statment credit for AF throughly it .

 

[Franko Costa]

For anyone using US Global Mail - Amex sent me a letter stating that this is a mail forwarder and that I need a physical address. Looks like I will need to go back to MyUS for physical and use the US global mail as the mailing

 

[blacksultan]

Does anyone know how long it takes to get the free night certificate from Hilton after upgrading to the aspire from a basic or surpass card ?

 

[Tiki]

Try out this application link for the Gold card (apparently the pop up window doesn't appear when using this link):

American Express® Gold Card

Apply for the American Express Gold Card: Multiply your rewards.

www.americanexpress.com

That annual fee for the gold is pretty steep! $250 USD is currently around $390 AUD and no way to offset it in Australia. At least the green card $150 USD ($235 AUD) could have been offset with the 20% rebate on travel purchases.

 

[Franko Costa]

Does anyone use the plat Charles Schwab card? I was just looking that one could transfer points from AU amex and then redeem for 1.1 CPP which would be 2.475% cash back!

 

[blacksultan]

That annual fee for the gold is pretty steep! $250 USD is currently around $390 AUD and no way to offset it in Australia. At least the green card $150 USD ($235 AUD) could have been offset with the 20% rebate on travel purchases.

Isn’t the value of 60 k MR points more than $390 ?
One can get a one way biz class flight to asia with around 60 k MR

 

[levelnine]

Isn’t the value of 60 k MR points more than $390 ?
One can get a one way biz class flight to asia with around 60 k MR

Given it's one bonus per lifetime (or 7 years), I'd rather wait for it to go back up to 90K + $250 back. The only reason I can see for jumping on a sub-par offer is if you've run out of other cards to apply for or, in the case of the Gold, you expect to make extensive use of the 4x categories.